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EP-4010826-B1 - COMPARISON OF BIOMETRIC IDENTIFIERS IN MEMORY

EP4010826B1EP 4010826 B1EP4010826 B1EP 4010826B1EP-4010826-B1

Inventors

  • SUN, HONGLIN
  • HUSH, GLEN E.
  • MURPHY, RICHARD C.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20200701

Claims (14)

  1. An apparatus, comprising: a first layer of a memory device within which a plurality of logic blocks (416, 516) is formed in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor, CMOS, under an array (314) of memory cells; a second layer of the memory device stacked on the first layer, wherein the array (312) of memory cells is formed in the second layer; and a controller (106) coupled to the plurality of logic blocks, wherein the controller is configured to: control a first portion (516-A, 516-(A+1), 516-(A+2), 516-(A+3), 516-(A+4), 516-(A+5)) of the plurality of logic blocks to receive a first subset of a set of biometric identifiers from the array and to perform a first comparison operation thereon; and control a second portion (516-B, 516-(B+1), 516-(B+2), 516-(B+3), 516-(B+4), 516-(B+5), 516-(B+6), 516-(B+7), 516-(B+8), 516-(B+9), 516-(B+10), 516-(B+11)) of the logic blocks to receive a second subset of the set of biometric identifiers from the array and to perform a second comparison operation thereon; wherein: the first and second subsets of the biometric identifiers are different biometric identifiers; and the first and second comparison operations are performed to determine a match of the first and second subsets respectively to a stored template (109-1, 109-N).
  2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first and second comparison operations are performed to determine a match of the first and second subsets respectively to any of a plurality of stored templates.
  3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to store the set of biometric identifiers, comprising the first and second subsets of biometric identifiers, in the array.
  4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of logic blocks is each configured to match a respective subset of the set of biometric identifiers by comparison to the stored template.
  5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to control a determination of an identity of a source of the set of biometric identifiers based on a first match determined between the first subset of the set of biometric identifiers and the stored template in combination with a second match determined between the second subset of the set of biometric identifiers and the stored template.
  6. The apparatus of any one of claims 1-5, wherein the apparatus further comprises a sensor (105) configured to sense the set of biometric identifiers from a source.
  7. The apparatus of any one of claims 1-5, wherein the first portion and the second portion of the plurality of logic blocks are each a respective single logic block.
  8. The apparatus of any one of claims 1-5, wherein at least one of the plurality of logic blocks is a configurable logic block, CLB.
  9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the controller further comprises a processor (110) configured to selectably store input of the first and second subsets of biometric identifiers in subsets of memory cells in the array, wherein the subsets of memory cells correspond to respective subsets of the set of biometric identifiers; and the controller is further configured to control: the first portion of the plurality of logic blocks to receive the first subset of the biometric identifiers moved from a corresponding first subset of memory cells via a first data bus; and the second portion of the plurality of logic blocks to receive the second subset of the biometric identifiers moved from a corresponding second subset of memory cells via a second data bus.
  10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the controller further comprises a processor (110) configured to selectably: determine from the set of biometric identifiers a type of input to be identified; and determine from the type of input a plurality of subsets of the biometric identifiers to be compared for identification; the controller is further configured to control: movement of the first subset of the set of biometric identifiers to the first portion of the plurality of logic blocks based on the first portion being particularly configured to compare the first subset to the stored template; and movement of the second subset of the set of biometric identifiers to the second portion of the plurality of logic blocks based on the second portion being particularly configured to compare the second subset to the stored template.
  11. A computer-implemented method, comprising: controlling a first set of logic blocks (416, 516) of an artificial neural network, ANN, (525, 625) to: receive data comprising a first subset of a set of biometric identifiers from an array of memory cells; and perform a first comparison operation on a first subset of a set of biometric identifiers by comparison to a stored template (742); controlling a second set of logic blocks of the ANN to: receive data comprising a second subset of the set of biometric identifiers from the array; and perform a second comparison operation on a second subset of the set of biometric identifiers by comparison to the stored template (744); and performing the first comparison operation concurrently with the second comparison operation (746); wherein the first set of logic blocks and the second set of logic blocks of the ANN are formed in a first layer of a memory device (108, 208, 308, 508) in complimentary-metal oxide-semiconductor, CMOS, under the array of memory cells; and wherein the array is formed in a second layer of the memory device stacked on the first layer; and wherein the first and second subsets of the biometric identifiers are different biometric identifiers.
  12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: configuring the memory device to include a first portion of the ANN and a second portion of the ANN, corresponding to the respective first set of logic blocks and the second set of logic blocks, in CMOS under the array of memory cells; and including at least one of the plurality of logic blocks in each of the first portion and the second portion of the ANN.
  13. The method of any one of claims 11-12, wherein the first comparison operation and the second comparison operation are part of a plurality of comparison operations performed using corresponding sets of the logic blocks of the ANN, and wherein the method further comprises: obtaining a plurality of matched results by comparison of the subsets of the set of biometric identifiers; and selecting one of the plurality of matched results as a source of the set of biometric identifiers, as verified by a majority of the plurality of matched results provided by the ANN.
  14. The method of any one of claims 11-12, further comprising: sensing the set of biometric identifiers via a plurality of biometric modalities comprising at least two of: facial recognition; fingerprint recognition; gait recognition; iris recognition; retinal recognition; or voice recognition; and performing the first and the second comparison operations on the respective first and second subsets of the at least two of the set of biometric identifiers.

Description

Technical Field The present disclosure relates generally to memory, and more particularly to apparatuses and methods associated with comparison of biometric identifiers in memory. Background Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. Some memory systems may include non-volatile storage memories for storing host (e.g., user) data from a host. Non-volatile storage memories provide persistent information (data) by retaining stored data when not powered. Some types of non-volatile memory and may include NAND flash memory, NOR flash memory, read only memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), and resistance variable memory, such as phase change random access memory (PCRAM), three-dimensional cross-point memory (e.g., 3D XPoint), resistive random access memory (ReRAM), ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), and programmable conductive memory, among other types of memory. Volatile memory cells (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cells) require power to retain their stored data state (e.g., via a refresh process), as opposed to non-volatile memory cells (e.g., flash memory cells), which retain their stored state in the absence of power. However, various volatile memory cells, such as DRAM cells may be operated (e.g., programmed, read, erased, etc.) faster than various non-volatile memory cells, such as flash memory cells. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are networks that may process the information by modeling a network of neurons, such as neurons in a human brain, to process information (e.g., stimuli) that has been sensed in a particular environment. Similar to a human brain, neural networks include a multiple neuron topology. US 2011/0087611 Al discloses a method and an apparatus of biometric identification and authentication for financial transaction. In one aspect, an automated teller machine is provided to assist a user to make a financial transaction. US 2018/0012006 Al discloses a user verification apparatus may perform user verification using multiple biometric verifiers. Brief Summary In a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus according to claim 1. In a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method according to claim 11. Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus in the form of a computing system including a host and a memory system in accordance with a number of embodiments of the present disclosure.Figure 2 a block diagram of an example of comparison of biometric identifiers in memory in accordance with a number of embodiments of the present disclosure.Figure 3 is a block diagram of an example memory device including a plurality of layers in accordance with a number of embodiments of the present disclosure.Figure 4 is a block diagram of an example logic block of a memory device in accordance with a number of embodiments of the present disclosure.Figure 5 is a block diagram of a memory device and a number of logic blocks included within the memory device in which an artificial neural network (ANN) is implemented in accordance with a number of embodiments of the present disclosure.Figure 6 illustrates an example model of an ANN in accordance with a number of embodiments of the present disclosure.Figure 7 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method for comparison of biometric identifiers in memory in accordance with a number of embodiments of the present disclosure.Figure 8 illustrates an example machine of a computer system within which a set of instructions, for causing the machine to perform various methodologies discussed herein, may be executed.Figure 9 illustrates another example model of an ANN in accordance with a number of embodiments of the present invention. Detailed Description Biometrics is a term used for information (e.g., measurements, calculations, and/or identification) based on metrics (e.g., measurable characteristics) related to a biological source. The biological source may be a particular identifiable individual (e.g., human, animal, or plant, etc.) from which the characteristics have been sensed. Hence, biometrics may, for example, allow a particular person to be identified and/or authenticated based upon recognizable and verifiable data, which may be unique and specific to the person. Biometrics may be used as a form of identification and access control. For example, using computer technology, biometrics may be used to identify individuals in groups (e.g., that are under surveillance) or it may be used for authentication of an individual to gain access to a particular area, business, agency, and laboratory, etc., among other possible uses. Biometric identifiers are measurable characteristics that may be used to distinguish, identify, label, and/or describe individuals. Biometric identifiers may b